Year Two of the Matt Quatraro tenure. Time to take a step up this year. Active in free agency and trades this offseason. A new look pitching rotation and bullpen. Will the young players take the leap up offensively? Bobby Witt extension? New stadium? Will Vinny recover from injury? Salvy taking aim at the Royals record book? Will Cole Ragans turn into the best Royals starting pitcher since Greinke 1.0?
Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Seth Lugo, SP
Michael Wacha, SP
Kyle Wright, SP
Hunter Renfroe, OF/DH
Will Smith, RP
Chris Stratton, RP
Nick Anderson, RP
Adam Frazier, 2B
Garrett Hampson, INF/OF
Matt Sauer, RP [Reply]
I don't want to take anything away from Cleveland. Those fuckers just keep winning, and that's the name of the game.
I think they've been a tad lucky, though. They're 6-2 in extra inning games, which is a bit of a stretch, both in wins, and the number of times they've already gone to extras.
They've got a few hitters, but they're pretty comparable to ours, for the most part.
Their starting pitching is nothing special, and that might be the thing that bites them in the ass eventually as that bullpen starts to get worn down. Because that's been the biggest key to their season thus far: their bullpen has been very good.
And they've got a below average defense.
Right now, I honestly think we're the better team, but we've just go out there and fucking do it. This whole division has owned our asses for the past several years. It's time we turn that right the fuck around. We'll finally get our first shot at Cleveland in a couple weeks.
And looking ahead further, we've got Cleveland coming to town for a four game set the last weekend of June. If both teams are still neck and neck, that stadium should be rocking with a playoff atmosphere.
It's been a GREAT Spring so far, and I think it's gonna be a very fun Summer. LFG. [Reply]
Cleveland's secret is the bullpen, that's not a secret for anyone who watched the Royals 10 years ago, great bullpens can mask a lot of other weaknesses because if you can get any kind of lead you can ride them to the finish. Cleveland's bullpen has been great. Clase is a cyborg and he's having that kind of season. Cade Smith closed out the game today and was throwing gas. Scott Barlow would probably still be our closer if he was here, but he might be Cleveland's 5th or 6th best reliever so far.
Royals do need another OF bat, but the most important piece might be a reliever or two who other teams will fear once we take Ragans or Lugo out. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Cleveland's secret is the bullpen, that's not a secret for anyone who watched the Royals 10 years ago, great bullpens can mask a lot of other weaknesses because if you can get any kind of lead you can ride them to the finish. Cleveland's bullpen has been great. Clase is a cyborg and he's having that kind of season. Cade Smith closed out the game today and was throwing gas. Scott Barlow would probably still be our closer if he was here, but he might be Cleveland's 5th or 6th best reliever so far.
Royals do need another OF bat, but the most important piece might be a reliever or two who other teams will fear once we take Ragans or Lugo out.
Agreed. I'd like to find another reliable reliever, because when it comes to volatility, the reliever positions are usually it. However, perhaps maybe Lynch or Bubic could be that type of guy. It worked for Hochevar, so who's to say it can't work on either one of these two?
Davis was also a starter, but his career thrived when he became a reliever and was nearly unhittable, especially with that cutter. [Reply]
The @Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. is the first MLB player to have at least 100 total bases, 30 RBI & 15 stolen bases in his first 50 games of a season since Barry Bonds in 1992. pic.twitter.com/mpAYszzCex
Originally Posted by cmh6476:
Lugo leading the al in era and wins and ragans leading in k's. Royals starters are 1, 11 and 20 in AL ERA. Who would have guessed?
And Marsh is just ineligible to be on the ERA leaderboard, otherwise he's 12th in the AL.
The rotation is fucking great.
If we had a C+/B- outfielder, a B reliever, and a B+/A- reliever on this team, in addition to what we already have, we'd be fucking nails. Would love to see someone(s) emerge into those roles from within, but if it doesn't happen within the next month, how willing will we be to make some difficult decisions and make a deal?
And I reaaaally wonder if/when Jordan Lyles is ever coming back. Having him in the bullpen would/could really clear a few things up. [Reply]